


Veiled Attractions

by kerrschtein



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Blood and Injury, Gen, Jasico - Freeform, if the characters listed are not in the fic yet be patient they're coming eventually, this is just a baby fic please be gentle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-20 19:37:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1523093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrschtein/pseuds/kerrschtein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Medieval AU: Jason Grace, knight of Folade, meets hedge warlock Nico diAngelo in the woods. Jason technically can't let Nico's use of necromancy slide, but he pities the kid and takes him under his wing.</p><p>In part inspired by this art: http://auroaronkitten.deviantart.com/art/The-Witch-s-Son-265624629</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meetings- Jason

“FUCK.” 

Jason heard a scream from the west, and quickly wheeled his horse around to see where it was coming from. 

“FUCK I’M GONNA KILL YOU I NEEDED THAT”

“Okay,” thought Jason, “I gotta help this guy. This is manticore territory and nobody should be alone.” 

And then he heard the howling. It came from somewhere in front of the voice, no, it came from everywhere. The very trees and air began to wail like something ungodly dragged from it’s grave. Then the lights started. Ghastly wisps began to come up from the ground as Jason crept closer. As he inched closer, he saw what he assumed to be the voice he had heard. 

A boy, no more than sixteen, with shaggy black hair and tattered clothes. Strings of stone beads and black feathers adorned his white skin. The boy appeared to have called the spirits of the dead and bound them to himself, spinning himself a shroud as he attacked the cowering monster. 

His head snapped toward Jason. 

“Who are you?” he inquired, equal parts confused and irritated.

“I’m.. uh, Jason?” he called in a voice that he hoped sounded strong. “You need a little help there?”

“If you want to.” the boy replied as his head turned back towards his target and focused the spirits around it. “But I think I’ve got this one. Stay out of my way.”

The manticore shrunk back against a large stone, tail poised to strike any that came near. Jason charged toward it, and abruptly stopped before he reached the spinning wisps. As he moved closer, he extended his golden spear to strike the beast, avoiding touching the spirits. The knight stabbed once, and missed, only to counter strike and hit the manticore in the foreleg. It reared lashing out at Jason with it’s tail.

“MOVE!” yelled the boy, and Jason scrambled back.

He got back on his feet just in time to see the dead souls converge on the beast and drain it of it’s life force, aging a hundred years in just a few seconds. Jason looked towards the warlock, as the glow around him dissapated and the wailing stopped. 

“How the FUCK did you do that?!” Jason exclaimed. “That’s no wizardry I’ve ever seen.”  
The boy looked sullen. “Name’s Nico. And I’m like no wizard you’ve ever seen, that’s how.” He turned away, and started walking back into the forest, away from the road by which Jason had come. 

“Hey, wait!” Jason called, grabbing the boy- Nico by the shoulder. “Where are you going? That shit looked like necromancy to me and y’know, I’m a knight of Folade so I have to ask. What were you doing back there anyways?”

“I’m going home. It wasn’t necromancy, exactly, I just, uhm…” He looked like he was at a loss for words. “That manticore raided my shack. Ate about half of my good supplies. I just wanted to get some back, but I guess that’s not going to happen.” Nico looked back toward the crumbled husk of what used to be their enemy.

“So if it wasn’t necromancy, what was it?” he inquired, fully knowing the answer.

Nico looked at his feet. “Yeah, it was necromancy, alright. Arrest me if you’re going to, I won’t use it against you. I may be a criminal by your stupid rules, but I still have morals. Consorting with death and all that shit. I just use it to help out sometimes, get advice and stuff, okay?.” He looked back up at Jason, whose head was a good solid foot above his own. “Can I go now?” he asked, a sad look in his eyes. 

“How about you come back with me?” He motioned to the general direction of the capital. “If you can do high level stuff like calling spirits, you have to be able to do some other stuff. We could use a warlock around, you can pose as a hedge warlock and help out. That is, if you want…” Jason looked away, one hand on his sword and the other on the back of his neck. 

“I don’t have any money.”

“I can house you, probably? We have tons of space in the castle-”

Nico cut him off. “No way am I living in the castle with the people who made me a pariah. Not happening.”

“Oh come on, fine. We can probably house you with Aetha, she’s the court witch. If you don’t mind all the chatter.” He grinned, as genuinely as he could. By the look of this kid, he had been on his own for a while. Jason kinda pitied him. 

“Alright.” Nico made a facial expression that might have been construed as a smile in some circumstances, and turned towards the road. “With that manticore taking most of my shit, I’ve got nowhere else to go.”


	2. Introductions- Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason brings Nico back to the capital and introduces him to their head witch. She agrees to take him on as an assistant and apprentice, and leaves shortly after showing him around her workplace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright beware i'm about to spam a shit ton of Nico POV chapters I know this is a new fic, but I write fast and I had a few free hours. 
> 
> this was not beta tested, so i'm not sure about the quality.
> 
> sorry if it's a little bit long, i got a bit carried away.

“Holy shit…” Nico murmured as he saw the spires of Folade’s capital rise up in front of him.

“Never seen the city, have you, country boy?” replied Jason, and Nico was sure that if he could see Jason’s face, he would be smirking. 

With Jason leading his horse and walking just in front of Nico though, the boy couldn’t be sure. They were making relatively good time, for an armored knight and a gangly boy like himself. It wasn’t even that far away now, about fifteen minutes at a good pace, but the huge forests that were so typical of Folade had hidden their view of anything but dense leaves. 

“Shut up.” he retorted, vaguely aware that it was a bit late for that. He had been too taken in by the sight of the city. Silvery and glinting in the sun, the city had what he presumed to be wonderful architecture, all arches and basilicas. 

Jason turned to see him staring, and said, “Yeah. I felt like that when I saw it the first time too. The queen designed it all herself when we changed capitals.” He whistled. “Goddamn that one’s a spitfire. Don’t tell her I said that.”

Nico hummed in agreement, too caught up in the sight to actually listen. They reached the gate not long after, and as they headed through, Nico’s eyes went wide. 

“So Nico, this is the Enchanter’s sector. If Aetha takes you on, you’ll be living in one of these flats over here.” Jason motioned to his right as he handed his horse off to what Nico presumed was a stable boy. “So let’s get you to the old witch, why don’t we?” he exclaimed with a spring in his step and a grin on his face. Nico thought he had never seen someone so enthusiastic over something so mundane.

As they walked through the courtyard towards a set of connected buildings, Jason pointed out which apartments belonged to which. 

“Here’s where Ellen lives she’s a really cool girl she enchants homes so they’re more stable, and over there is Lamia’s place, I’d stay away from that though, she’s pretty venomous towards most people…” 

He rambled on without taking a breath, Nico only listening with one ear. It was odd for him, the switch fromthe sounds of nature to the clop of horseshoes on cobblestone and quiet murmur of city life. 

“Oh!” Jason exclaimed with a start. “This is the place!” He looked up at the stone building, it’s columns and doorframe stained with what looked like plant matter. “Oh gods I really hope that isn’t a burn mark, Aetha isn’t as careful as she should be for a healer oh yeah okay that is definitely a burn mark sorry if you don’t wanna do this you don’t have to it might be a little tough with her…” 

Nico stopped him with a hand on the taller boy’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine. If I can take out a manticore, I can deal with a few burn marks.” He made an attempt to smile for Jason’s sake. 

“Sorry…” Jason replied, with his hand on his neck and a blush on his face. “AETHA!” he called, shortly followed by a crashing noise from inside. 

An old woman bumbled out, her dark skin and grey dreadlocked hair both covered with some kind of pigment. A dusting covered her smock as well, more colors than Nico had seen in his life. 

“Boy, what did I tell you about coming in here like a thunderin’ beast and makin’ me mess up with my potions? I’m gon’ have to run out and get more shit now.” She stopped upon seeing Nico. “Oh, who is this darlin’?”

“Aetha, this is Nico. He’s a hedge warlock, and a manticore kind of messed up his place. I thought maybe you could use an assistant after the last one quit?” 

“Oh of course. I was wonderin’ when you’d bring another one round. Here dear, let me show you around my little place before I run out. Go fool around with your swords now, you big airhead.” She made a shooing motion toward Jason. “I got stuff to do and I don’t want to deal with you knockin’ your big self about my materials.” She punctuated every syllable of the word ‘materials’ with a shove to Jason’s back.

“Alright, alright. I’m going Aetha, gods! Calm down!” He walked away, and Nico could still hear his laugh even after he was half way across the courtyard. 

The squat little witch grabbed Nico’s arm firmly, and as good as dragged him inside. As soon as he got in he saw jars and terrariums, plants everywhere. Feathers and strings of beads hung from the rafters, a stark contrast from the pristine view he had gotten of the other flats. It made him a little less anxious about his new home. 

“There’s some quarters upstairs for you to put your stuff- Oh. You didn’t bring anything. That’s okay dear, the pay is good and you can get some stuff to make it your own soon enough. Well, here’s the stuff. Plants are over in the left corner, though they seem to have gotten everywhere…” She muttered something under her breath about hobs as she absently shifted a pot, though Nico didn’t quite catch it. “There are some books over there on the right if you want to do some reading, I dunno what stuff you learned in the past, but it’s just some regular shit about healing and antivenoms and how to make poultices, nothing much.”

“Alright. Thanks, miss. D’you need me to do anything while you’re out? You said you needed to get more herbs, right?” Nico looked a little overwhelmed.

Aetha replied kindly. “No hun. Just make yourself at home. If you wanna look at the books or fiddle with the plants, you do whatever you want. I’ll be back in a lil while, that galoot didn’t make me mess up too much of my stuff. If anyone comes in, just tell ‘em that the old witchy went out to get some shit and to not die while I’m out. Usually that works, though some can be persistent. Just do what you can, alright dear?” 

“Alright,” Nico echoed as she stepped out the door. “I can manage myself well enough…”

To be honest, Nico was grateful for some relative quiet. In the past few hours he had had more human contact than most of his 17 years, omitting the time when his sister was alive. Even then, she was hunting a lot and came home tired. He tried to settle in to his quarters, when he heard a knock on the oak door.


	3. Reverse- Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico helps heal a wounded Percy that Piper dragged back from a patrol went wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow yes okay. it's been less than a half hour since i posted the last chapter but. i wrote a lot so. hopefully, this fic will update weekly, with several chapters every weekend (granted that life doesn't get in the way). 
> 
> once again, not beta'd. 
> 
> enjoy!

Nico turned when he heard the knock. He walked down the stairs, through the clutter, then opened the door. Before he could get a word in, a striking girl dragging an armored man barged through the door.

“Who the FUCK are you?!” the woman exclaimed, her light eyes flaring in the dimness. “Nevermind. You’re probably Aetha’s new kid. Is the old lady here?”

“Uh, no she’s not sorry she went out to get some herbs.” The words spilled out of his mouth as he looked at the wounded man on the floor, who was now being dragged toward the beds. “I’m Nico. I have some basic training I guess so if you want I can take a look while she’s out?”

“Alright kid, but you better not fuck up. I’m Piper. This here-” she motioned to the man she had now hauled onto a patient cot, “-is Percy. We were on border control and some water spirits attacked. Normally that’s his job, he’s got elemental skills in water. These ones were tainted. Don’t know what was in their weapons, but it looks like some sort of poison.” 

“Oh- okay, I can do poison. I can do that. Uh, how about you have a seat somewhere, maybe upstairs…” When she shot him a questioning look, Nico tried to elaborate. “I work best in quiet, I’m not used to the city yet.”

“Okay. Have you got this? I should go get Annabeth, she’d like to know…” She seemed to see the blank look behind his eyes. “That’s the queen. Annabeth, I mean. Percy is her consort. If you can do this on your own, I should get her, now.”

“Yeah. I can do this. Go tell the queen.” he muttered in Piper’s general direction, his mind already assessing all the possible options he could use to figure out what poison was in his- Percy’s- system. He didn’t even notice when she walked out. After minimal deliberation, he decided to try a minor examination spell he used to use on the deer his sister brought in to make sure they were healthy and disease free. He worked at the leather straps on Percy’s breastplate, muttering the incantation to the spell under his breath. He didn’t need to, but his mother had him say it when he was still learning and somehow the action calmed him. 

Once he had discarded the breastplate, he spread his hands above the wound. He was slightly apprehensive to actually touch the wound. Once he steeled himself, he splayed his fingers around the gash on his abdomen, forming a diamond with his forefingers and thumbs. He felt a shiver go up his arms when he felt how cold this guy was. As gaunt as Nico was, Percy looked worse. 

“Alright. I don’t know if you can hear me, Percy or whatever. I also don’t know what you did to get this close to death. But this might hurt. I uh, normally use this spell on things that are already dead.” 

He forced a pulse of pure energy into the wound, crackling through Percy’s slow moving blood like electricity. And as it moved, time seemed to slow around Nico as he received feedback from every vein in the man’s body. He had thought that it was bad, but he had had no idea to what extent. Nico began to realize that Percy’s body was as close to death as he could be. He jolted back as the spell ended, the energy dissipating into the air once it’s instruction was completed. 

“Oh gods oh go- fuck what do I do he doesn’t even have any poison in him, did the spirits try to drain their life force, I forgot to ask Piper what they looked like if they looked old and the water was oily they might have been trying to..” He trailed off as his mind refocused. 

And he knew what he had to do. 

He stepped away from the cot and turned on his heel, going to find herbs and bones. Nico fumbled at the jars on the walls, opening every one that looked like the ones he needed and trying to identify their scent. He made a mental note to learn some of the names of the plants in the terrariums and the dried ones alike. Gods, being with these people was so different from the woods.

He hastily bandaged the wound, putting a basic poultice of witch hazel and lesser periwinkle on it before wrapping cloth around Percy’s torso.

In his mind he recited some of the necromancy spells his sister helped him to learn after his mother’s passing, and worked on reversing them. Nico’s hands found a pad of vellum and the charcoal beside it, and he hastily scribbled the letters in reverse. 

Once he had put it in order, Nico found a seat at the head of Percy’s cot and checked his pulse. Still beating. 

Nico felt relief wash over him, but it was quickly banished by fear. He started to recite the spell in reverse as he placed his forefingers on Percy’s temples, and putting his thumbs as close to the base of his neck as possible. His fingers just reached. As he said the last word, Nico’s eyes rolled back in his head and a burst of light shot down his arms into Percy’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for this chapter, I actually did some researches on natural coagulants. both the herbs mentioned in this chapter, witch hazel and lesser periwinkle are both natural antiseptics and coagulants, but witch hazel would have helped to heal the gash on the skin which is presumably what Nico would have seen, and the lesser periwinkle is to sterilize and stop any internal bleeding that may have occured from his injury. just a note!
> 
> don't try it at home though pls


	4. Interim- Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico goes into the Veil to bring Percy's soul back. It proves harder than expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy new chapter once again no beta so any criticism is great!

Once the fog cleared, Nico could see that he had entered the Interim. Huge stone pillars rose up around him, obscuring any view of the rest. The only opening was the Veil itself, and only the dead could pass through. Living who were gifted enough with necromancy could pass into the Interim, but he’d never heard of someone bringing a soul back. Spirits hovered atop the stones. They didn’t look at Nico himself, rather towards the outside, like ghostly sentries.

“Good,” thought Nico, “Don’t need any disgruntled dead people wondering why I didn’t come to drag their asses back to the living.”

He turned, trying to see if Percy was in the veil yet. He saw a figure crouched on the ground, trying to stand. Nico saw the shaggy black hair and runner’s build and he knew it was Percy. He rushed toward the boy, but stopped when he realized that Percy would have no idea who he was as he was unconscious when Piper left him at the infirmary.

“Percy?” Nico called out in a voice weak and hoarse. “Percy, is that you?”

His head turned toward the voice calling his name. “Yeah, I’m Percy. I think. I feel kind of weird. Where am I?” as his eyes came into focus, he saw Nico. “...and who are you?”

“I’m, uh, I’m a friend. You got hurt in a skirmish with some spirits and your soul left your body before it could recover.”

Percy looked confused. “Does that mean I’m dead? I can’t be dead, Annabeth would kill me if I did that.”

Nico searched his face for any traces of sarcasm, but found none. Apparently his charge was really out of it. “Uh, no I don’t think you’re dead yet. We’re in a place where your spirit goes before it goes through the Veil to the afterlife. I came here to call you back. I think if I put your spirit back in your body, you should be able to heal.”

Percy nodded, a blank look in his eyes. “At least he seems to listen to me,” Nico thought. “Maybe he won’t recognize me when he wakes up if he’s so disoriented.” 

“Are you a ghost?” Nico was surprised to hear Percy speak in such an innocent tone. From his appearance, he had expected Percy to be what he had heard about knights and consorts, gruff and business oriented. 

“No. I’m not a ghost.” he had tried to sound gentle, but Nico had only managed to sound aggravated. The slightly hurt look on Percy’s face confirmed it. He had forgotten that souls here weren’t exactly like they were when they inhabited a body, that it was a pure manifestation of them and their personality. He’d have to be more careful. 

“Sorry. Uh, I think we go this way.” He looked towards a crack in the wall that was most certainly not there before. “Do you think we can pull this rock or something?”

“I think I can. Should I try first?”

Nico nodded as Percy placed his hands on the rock and curled his fingers into the crack. As much as the knight tried, he could not budge the stone.

“Hello?” Nico called, hoping that the spirits would answer. “Can any of you help me?”

He was answered with a tinkling noise like shattered glass falling on the ground, and a high laughter reminiscent of children’s joy turned to malice. The spirits all turned toward him and Percy, wavering back and forth in some kind of demented dance. 

Then they spoke as one. “You’ll never get out, veilwalker. Your powers are useless with him here. You’re stuck with us forever! Best give up!” The voices came from everywhere, singsongy and chilling to the bone. 

Nico tried to use enchanted speech against them, willing them to leave him or tell him how to get out. He tried summoning spirits he knew, but to no avail. He had no idea what to do, because while he had gone to the Interim alone to sit by the divide and speak with spirits across the Veil, he had never tried to bring one back with him. 

He moved towards the center of the circle, and screamed.

It hurt him, his soul, and it felt like everything he was and everything he would ever be was unleashed in one ungodly howl. 

And his eyes snapped open. 

Nico was on the floor, he had collapsed where he had been sitting to heal Percy. ‘It must have been a dream or something,’ he thought. ‘I must have expended too much energy in there and it must have made me pass out. Fuck. What actually happened then?’

He sat up shakily, just in time to see Aetha in the doorway. He stumbled to his feet, and with a sullen look on his face, he tried to explain.

“Sorry- you were gone, and this girl dragged him in and said that I had to try and help him, I’m really sorry I couldn’t wait he was in such bad shape I should just let you take over now shouldn’t I-”

His ramble was cut short by a warm hand on his shoulder. While he was fumbling to explain, Aetha had crossed the room. 

“It’s fine, dearie. He’s breathing, and it looks like you patched him up nice. I don’t know what arcane shit you did, but from what Piper told me when she came rushin’ across the courtyard like something wild, this boy is in much better shape than he was when he got here.” She turned to look at Nico. “You child, look like you went to hell itself to bring Percy back. I’ll take it from here. Go get some rest, I showed you where you’ rooms are. If you’re awake later, I’ll bring you up some food.”

“I- alright.”

And with that, he stumbled up the stairs and fell into bed.


	5. Debts- Jason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason figures out what happened to Nico and Percy, and berates Nico for his carelessness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this took almost no time I am so sorry for not updating sooner, but expect updates in bulk so?

“What in the name of the three hells happened here?” 

Jason looked around the infirmary as he opened the door, seeing Nico passed out in a corner and a seemingly injured Percy on a cot. As soon as Jason spoke, Nico jolted awake. 

“Uh, I can explain?” Nico started to get up, only to half fall and end up leaning on a table. As soon as he could stand properly, his words started falling out of his mouth. “Well-this-girl-came-in-and-made-me-fix-him-I-don’t-know-what-I-did-but-he-may-know-the-thing-and….”

Jason took note of the kid’s frantic movements and eyes darting from Percy to Jason to his toes, a perfect picture of stress itself. 

“Alright Nico, calm down, just- just explain what happened.” Jason tried to keep his voice steady, despite a growing anxiety and fear for a kid he had just met earlier. He moved toward where Nico was perched on a table, feet tucked under himself like a little kid. “And start from the beginning.”

Nico took a deep breath and started speaking. 

“Alright so this girl with brownish hair came in and was all like ‘where’s Aetha’ and I said she was out collecting herbs and then the girl demanded that I try to fix Percy but I didn’t know what to do and…” 

Another deep breath.

“...and I managed to fix his body so it should be fine but his soul had kind of left and was on it’s way to the veil so I kind of reverse engineered necromancy spells and took myself to the Interim to grab his soul before it crossed over and was gone but…”

Big inhale. Jason was developing a sore throat just hearing the velocity this kid was speaking at, all without taking a breath. And on top of just performing necromancy, he was flailing his arms in big motions to accentuate his speech.

“...I didn’t really count on Percy’s soul being aware and stuff, they’re not normally like that, well I mean they’re normally dead but my point is if he was aware he might know about the whole necromancy thing.”

Jason wasn’t sure where to start. 

“Alright so you saved the queen’s consort, but he might know you’re a necromancer so that might condemn you? Is that what I’m hearing? Because I’m glad and all that you saved Percy, he and I are close, but do you realize what you have just done?” Jason didn’t notice the incredulity that was in his voice until the words were already out. “Sorry. I’m just worried. He might not even know, right? 

“He probably won’t I think, because the Interim really takes a toll on souls that are departed and that’s why they all tend to wander around the three hells with no idea of their lives, the crossing to the Veil kind of zaps all of their memories. Being so close, he might not have any idea what happened.” Nico was wringing his hands on his shirt, making the already frayed edge even worse. 

Jason put a hand on his shoulder, and said in a kind voice: “That’s good then. He’s alive, and even if he knows, Percy is a very loyal person. He’ll kind of get the notion that he owes you for quite literally bringing him back from the edge of death, and even if he knows, he might not say anything because of his debt mindset.” Nico stopped wringing his hands and looked up at Jason.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. Percy is a good guy. If he thinks he owes you, he’d go to hell and back to make up that debt.” Jason smiled. “But you, you look like you went all the way through the three hells. Get some sleep, kid.”


	6. Awakenings- Percy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow alright it's my birthday so i guess this is a good time to post this, like a kind of reverse birthday present?? it's my birthday but i give something (hopefully not shitty) to you all. enjoy!

His eyes opened slowly, and blinked a few times to re wet the surface. Groggily, Percy spoke.

“Where am I?” he mumbled, just barely bringing the world into focus. Soon, he felt a slender pair of arms wrap around his body with surprising force.

“You gods be damned idiot. What were you thinking?!”

‘Oh,’ Percy thought, ‘There’s Annabeth.’

“Well you see, here’s the thing- mpffh.” He went cross eyed to see the obstruction that was stopping him from explaining. It was something that looked like, bread? “Whassat? I don’t need bread…” he slurred, attempting to speak and chew at the same time. Once he had finished the roll, he looked around. Annabeth was sitting on the side of his bed, Piper was on the trunk at the foot of the bed with Jason by her side. As always. 

“You have no idea what happened to you, do you, seaweed brain.”

“Not an inkling,” Percy replied, some of his usual cheer and color beginning to return. He did remember some, but it didn’t make much sense. A dark boy pulling him from the clutches of death- a dark boy who resembled the boy sulking in the corner of the room. 

Annabeth and Piper briefed him on what happened, how the tainted spirits had attempted to take down their scouting party, though Percy wasn’t paying much attention. He was far more focused on the mass of dark hair and olive skin in the corner. Soon, Percy dozed off again. 

When he woke up, Jason was reading a book and the boy had moved to lean against the foot of the bed. 

“Hey, Jason? Who’s the kid?”

“You know I can hear you, I am right here…” said the skeletal figure with a wave of his hand above his head. “Name’s Nico. I uh, kind of healed you?”

Nico pulled himself to his feet, and turned to face Percy. “There was some dark poison in your blood from the tainted spirits, and I had to do some spellwork on you to fix you up. You’re not one of those anti-magic people, are you?”

Jason spoke up. 

“Definitely not. Percy has some magic of his own actually, minor water spells and such. That’s why he went after the water creatures that poisoned him.”

Nico nodded, and Percy could swear he saw a hint of relief. Was this kid… afraid? What could he be afraid of? While he was thinking, Nico had retreated to his corner again, almost melting into the shadows once he saw Percy staring at him pensively.


End file.
